Dancing in the Storm
by Queen of the Wallflowers
Summary: ONESHOT. Cedric and Luna's friendship over the years. Before Hogwarts to her death. Cedric promised to always look after her. and he did.


**Cedric/Luna AUish**

 **Walking Through the Storm**

* * *

Cedric Diggory met Luna Lovegood when she two years old. She was a tiny whisp of a thing, almost fairy-like. He was six years old and normally prefers to play with the Weasley boys, but his father dragged him to see the Lovegoods. She smiles at him and he thinks she's really pretty. She waddles all over the place in her little red boots, her long blonde hair falling down her blue raincoat. He takes her for a stroll in the garden and she smiles at him giggling as she jumps around in the puddles. That's all it takes for him to fall under her spell.

He spends the year looking after her and they go on adventures looking for magical creatures who may or may not exist with her mother and they all jump in puddles and he reads to her.

* * *

He teaches her how to fly a broom when she is three. She only goes up a few feet but she loves it. She claps her hands when he flies and he promises her when she's older he will take her for a real ride and show her the world. He tells her all about Quidditch and she nods her heads as if she understands what he is saying.

* * *

When she is four, and he is eight they go to the Weasleys. He misses hanging out with the boys and Luna's mother wants her to interact with other kids. She hides behind him, eyes wide at the loud noise coming from all the boys.

It's Charlie who gets her to open up when she sees him reading a book with dragons on the cover.

She drags him over to the Charlie and sits on his laps as she asks Charlie questions. Cedric plays with her hair as Charlie takes the time to explain to her about dragons. For a four-year-old, she is very smart and curious. She stares at him wide eye.

Bill then offers to braid her hair and Cedric tries not to feel jealous as Luna leave his lap to settle into the 13-year-old boy's lap. Charlie sees the younger boy's jealousy and laughs.

"Mate. No need to get jealous. It's obvious that she adores you. You are her favorite."

They leave after that because of several things. One, when Molly Weasley gave them lunch Ron stole Luna's cookie and two, Ginny gets jealous of all the attention Luna is getting and cuts Luna's braid.

Cedric carries her crying back to her parents where her mother laughs and tells her daughter that it will grow back. She fixes her daughters' hair and the short hair makes her look younger and more elvish. But he prefers her long hair.

The next day, the two older Weasley boys come to see Luna to apologize for their siblings. Cedric stands in front of her protectingly.

Bill gives her a rose crown and Charlie gives her his old book about Magical Beasts.

All is forgiven.

* * *

When she is five, they plant a garden. Her mother teaches them the names of all the plants and he remembers how much he loves hearing Luna laugh. They go exploring for wrackspurts and other creatures. Sometimes the older Weasley boys will come by to watch Luna as one of them teaches him Quidditch moves since he can't take part of the Weasley lessons. The other teaches Luna the basics of flying or tells her stories. On rainy days, Cedric and Luna go puddle hopping and the next day they stay at home sick. Cedric pretty much lives at the Lovegood household and his parents are too busy to care.

* * *

When she is six, Ginny gets over her jealousy and they spend their summers at the Weasleys. He's with the boys and Luna spends her days with Ginny. But he can tell she prefers to hang out with him. He is ten years old and it hits him that next year he will be at Hogwarts and he wouldn't be seeing her every day.

* * *

She turns lucky seven and he's eleven but it doesn't feel so lucky but he tries to make it the best summer for her. They go nargle hunting and dancing in the rain. They play Quidditch until she has to go to bed. They read books and go muggle watching. They look for crumpkle snortnorack and talk to Charlie about dragons. The day before he goes to Hogwarts, he hugs her tightly and he can feel her heart. She's still so tiny and still has his heart in her hand, the way she did when she was two. He kisses her head and tells the youngest Weasleys to look after her.

Then he is off to Hogwarts, leaving Luna alone for the first time in five years.

He gets letter after letter from the twins, full of Luna updates. He sends them a galleon each every month as a thank you.

* * *

The next time he sees her, its the day after he gets home from Hogwarts and she is eight and has gone from a tiny girl to a weed overnight. She has grown six inches taller and her hair is longer and he's impressed. She tells him about her lessons and how she is helping her mother with potions and how she hangs out with Ginny and Ron. She tells him how Ron still steals her cookies and she tells him how much she missed him. He in turns tells her about the wonders of Hogwarts and everything he learned. He loves the way she looks at him wide eyes. He teaches her some basic spells and lets her use his wand. They go nargle watching and play Quidditch. They try to pretend like he isn't trying to squeeze a whole year into three months.

When September comes, he kisses her forehead and tells her he loves her. She smiles.

He gets a letter from the twins every month except for January, where he gets an extra letter during his lesson with Snape.

Snape snatches the letter and prepares to read it but he falls silent as he scans the letter.

He tells Cedric to gather his stuff and to see Professor Sprout. His heart quicken and all he can think is Luna.

He gets permission to leave for a weekend.

* * *

The next summer, Luna is nine years old and is silent. Her mother is dead and she is fading. He sits next to her giving her comfort when she lets him. They spend the summer indoors.

She doesn't look for creatures or takes care of her garden or reads her book. But Cedric refuses to let the garden die so he takes care of it for her. He takes care of Luna and doesn't fly that summer.

One day Cedric finds her standing in front of a mirror, scissors in her hands as she cuts away her long blonde hair, tears streaming down her face.

He wretches the scissors from her hand and she crumples to the floor crying.

He holds her in his arms as she sobs. Once she calms down he finishes the cut, evening it out.

No one comments on her short hair.

He goes to Hogwarts leaving behind a broken nine-year-old girl. Before he leaves, he gives her a soft badger for her to hug when she misses him. She treasures it forever, taking good care of it.

* * *

The next summer she is ten and he is fourteen. He has made quidditch seeker so he practices a lot with the Weasleys dragging her with him. She sits silent off to the side with one of the Weasley brothers. Bill braids her hair and makes her flower crowns. Charlie tells her about dragons and magical creatures. She doesn't ask him about nargles. Percy Weasley reads to her and the twins manage to make her laugh. Ron doesn't steal her cookies after he gives him a talking to. Cedric tells her about his classes and how Harry Potter is in school and how he is the seeker for Gryffindor and how rumor has it he faced He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named again.

* * *

The next summer she is eleven and will be going to Hogwarts. She seems more like herself and they go nargle hunting and muggle watching. They plant in her garden and make pies with Molly. She smiles and giggles as he tells her how excited he is to be with her at school. It doesn't matter that he is a fourth year, she's his Luna.

* * *

On September 1, they board the train hand in hand. He smiles at Cho but sits in a compartment with Luna. When they get to Hogwarts, he pushes her gently towards the boats with a promise he will see her later. He sees her get into a boat with Ginny Weasley, a boy with a camera in his robe pocket, and a blonde girl who sits ups straight like a lady.

He smiles at her as she stands in line waiting to be sorted.

When the hat cries RAVENCLAW, he is up on his feet clapping and he gives her a hug and pushes her towards the Ravenclaws. He smiles as Cho greets her and starts up a conversation with her.

He sees her around school talking to Ginny and laughing with Colin and sitting with Slytherin Astoria but, after Christmas, she retreats into her shell. He finds her in the kitchen one night and they persuade the elves to make them ice cream sundaes for her 12th birthday. He carries her to her common room and answered the riddle. Several of the Ravenclaws were surprised to see him with little Luna in his arms. He carries her to her bed and tucks her in, kissing her forehead. He smiles when he sees the badger he made her in her bed.

He is scared as kids become petrified. When Granger ends up in the hospital bed, his heart stops, if Harry Potter's best friend isn't safe then who is? He walks her to her tower every night.

When he sees Hermione Granger running into the Great Hall and hugging Harry, he smiles because everything is okay.

They sit in a compartment just the two of them on the way back.

* * *

They spend the summer doing magic. He teaches her a few new spells and she cheers him on during the summer Quidditch matches. They go looking for creatures and they make her garden bigger. She learns how to knit from Molly Weasley and he learns how to charm ladies curtsey of the older Weasley brothers.

* * *

They find a compartment together for her second year and this time Sirius Black has escaped and dementors are on the train. He comforts Luna as she is forced to relive her mother dying. They arrive at school shaken and when he leads her to a carriage, she freezes.

"What's that?"

She points to air and he looks at her curiously.

'Nothing's' there."

She looks at him and then tilts her head curiously but gets into the carriage. Cho and Scott follow him. She doesn't call out to any of her friends. She heads to the Ravenclaw table and sits alone by the corner, quiet. He notices her but then he is too busy being greeted and having girls flirt with him because he has been made Quidditch captain.

He doesn't see her around Hogwarts often unless it dinner. Then Black gets into the castle and everyone is taken to the dining hall.

He scans the Great Hall. He has to touch her. The second he sees her, he scoops her up in his arms, making sure she is fine. He sets her up near the Weasley twins because they have little Ginny Weasley next to them. He gives them a look and Katie Bell wraps an arm around Luna, nodding at him. He notices a Slytherin cloak on Katie's shoulders but doesn't say a word except to whisper that she looks good in green. She blushed and he goes to where Percy and the other prefects are. They are told to take a shift and walks around the room, comforting kids. He won't admit it but he likes seeing everyone mingle with each other.

He sees Slytherin Marcus Flint sitting watching several first and second years, not just snakes but some puffs and lions and ravens too. Oliver Wood seems to be following Percy Weasley around. Cho is calming Astoria Greengrass as her sister is calming Tracy Davis down.

Oliver hugs Percy when most of the students fall asleep and he looks away as Percy sinks into his hug. A short while later he gets the okay to sleep and he crawls to where Luna is. She wakes up when he touched her shoulder, and lets him wrap her up in his arms. If they die tonight he wants to die knowing he tried to protect her.

After that night, I walk her to her tower every night and I study the Patronus spell in case he needs to protect her.

He doesn't see her as much as the O.W.L.S. drawn near, but he notices a few Hufflepuffs talking to the Headboy who later pulls Luna aside. Cedric asks them both what it was about but neither of them says a word. She doesn't have the heart to tell him that kids are being cruel calling her loony. He would try to be her knight in shining armor and she doesn't need saving. The Headboy doesn't want Cedric to take action. It's a known fact how protective Cedric is of Luna.

They board the train except Luna goes to sit with her friend, Ginny and Cedric sits with Cho and Scott.

* * *

They aren't together every day this summer. He's too busy flooing over to Cho's or Scott's or planning for Quidditch.

He gets tickets for the Quidditch Game and he wants Luna to come with but she refuses saying she doesn't want to leave her dad. He doesn't comment that her dad is alone for nine months when she is in school. She kisses his cheek and tells him to have fun and that she wants a play by play.

He goes to the Quidditch championship with the Weasleys, Potter, and Granger.

He catches Granger's eyes and she giggles. He can't help but think she is cute and wonders if Potter is aware of lucky he has to have such a pretty friend. However, she has nothing on Cho or Luna.

He buys a few things for Luna and when he gets back he gives her a play by play of the game and tries not to think about the dark mark appearing and how little Luna is too precious to be living in a world where such evil exists.

However, he tells her anyway and she hugs him tightly kissing his cheek and he pulls her close.

After that, they spent the whole summer together.

They planted in her garden and play Quidditch and go dancing in the rain. He taught her how to waltz and he finds out that his favorite sound is the sound of her laughing as he spins her around in the wet grass, they jump in puddles and read books. He let her draw him and they go crater searching.

He had no idea what the year will bring but he was determined to be there for Luna.

* * *

They started their third year and sixth year together on the train just the two of them. He is seventeen and she is thirteen.

She is curled on his lap as he strokes her hair.

She had told him the night before that she had a bad feeling about this year.

When he found out that Quidditch was canceled he figured that was the bad news. Then he heard about the tournament,

He didn't want to enter it at first. He could hear Luna saying that she sensed something bad but Cho said that it would be very brave if he did and he figured his chances of being picked were slim to none.

When his name was called out, his eyes met Luna and he could see the horror in her eyes. He sent her a reassuring smile and walked to the room where the other champions were waiting. Then Harry walks in and he was stunned to hear that his name came out of the goblet. He could tell that the boy was tired and afraid and he believed him when he said he didn't put his name in the goblet, it scared him to think a boy one year older than Luna was taking part of something that could get him killed. He vowed to keep an eye on Harry in case anyone did try to kill him.

The first task is dragons and Harry gives him a head up and he is thankful otherwise he might have died.

After the dragons and after it is all over, Luna attacks him with a hug and he has to deal with her by his side for the rest of the day because she is terrified he will die if she's not keeping an eye on him. Cho is not too happy.

He sees Charlie and Charlie gives her a quick talking to and reassures Luna that dragons are nice and then she's okay but he spends the rest of the evening with her. His house loves her.

* * *

Luna is his dance partner as he practices for the Yule ball and he wants to ask her to be his date but she tells him to ask Cho instead so he does. Luna doesn't get asked to the dance but he convinces her to sneak out later that night.

He finds Hermione Granger crying so he dances with her and then to his surprise Harry Potter steals her away after he bids her good night, he watches the boy pull her into his arms and then walks her to her tower. He sneaks out to the kitchen and finds Luna there. He dances her around the kitchen and she laughing, dressed in one of his old shirts and they are laughing.

A few week later he gets pictures in the mail, there's one of him and Cho, one of him and Hermione, him and Scott, several of him dancing and laughing, and then it's him and Luna in the kitchen.

He frames the picture of him and Luna and keeps it on his desk in his room.

* * *

After the ball comes the second task and when he hears the song he is terrified for Luna. So he ignores her trying to protect her. He pretends not to notice her crying whenever he ignores her.

The day of the task he dives down and hopes that he won't find Luna down there. When he sees Cho, he is surprised. She isn't the thing he would miss the most but its better than Luna. He's also surprised to see who everyone's person is. He assumed Hermione would be thing Harry would miss the most but then he sees Ron and he doesn't think one night classifies Hermione as the thing that Krum would miss the most, Fleur's person is the only one who makes sense and when he arrives back at the surface with Cho the first thing he looks for in the stand is Luna and she's there next to Scott and behind her is Marcus Flint.

But then he sees Fleur and hears her screaming for her sister and he wants to dive down to get her but then Krum arrives next and Hermione is soaking wet. He looks up to the crowd and sees that Luna is gone and that Marcus Flint is arguing with Katie Bell. Oliver Wood is frowning at the pair but he's torn between looking at his chaser and looking at the lake. He will admit that he is surprised to see Oliver Wood. There were rumors about a Howler sent to Dumbledore about how it was unlawful to cancel Quidditch. No one knows if that is true or not but he's glad to see Oliver there supporting his former Seeker.

Harry then appears with both Ron and Fleur's little sister and Fleur throws herself at him, crying.

Hermione also throws herself at Harry and Harry calms them both down quickly. Cedric bites back a laugh.

When he wins first place, he automatically looks for Luna and doesn't find her. As he walks back to school, he sees her sitting at Lake talking to the Giant Squid. He tells Scott and Cho to go ahead. He then joins Luna and sits next to her.

They sit there in silence as everyone else walks by.

"Cho is the thing you would miss the most."

She sounds heartbroken and he pulls her into his lap and she curls into him.

"No, you are but I was so scared they would take you."

He runs his hands through her hair and he cuddles closer to him.

She looks at him and smiles sadly and he hates that sad smile.

He doesn't know who makes the first move but he steals Luna's Lovegood's first kiss at the age of 17 and on her 14 birthday.

"Happy Birthday Luna."

He chokes out after they pull away. They walk back to the tower in silence. Him feeling guilty for kissing her and for wanting to do it again. She's four years younger than him. He's an adult. She hugs him tightly and he watches her enter her tower. He finds Cho waiting for him outside the Hufflepuff dorms and he kisses her the second he sees her. He needs to get Luna out of his mind. He has sex with Cho in an empty classroom and afterward, he feels empty.

He spends more time with Cho and he watches Luna slip into the shadows. He sees her sitting alone more often and one time he follows her into the forest and finds her talking to an invisible creature. He watches her feed it and he sees the apple in her hand disappear.

* * *

When he finds out the final task is a maze to the trophy, he knows that he needs to talk to Luna. He finds Luna sitting in the Owlery. He sits next to her and she curls up next to him.

"Promise me you will be careful."

"It's going to be okay Luna."

"The bad feeling hasn't gone away."

He kisses her forehead but the feeling doesn't go away and as the day gets closer and closer the feeling grows.

The night before the tournament he and Luna fall asleep curled up on one of the armchairs in his common room. When he wakes up he notices that she had been crying.

They go to the kitchens and eat there. The House Elves are quiet. When they get near the maze, she pauses.

"Cedric?" He turns toward her.

She hugs him tightly and he feels her shaking.

He pulls away and looks at her and cups her face in his hands.

"I'm going to be okay, Luna Love. I'll see you afterward, I love you."

She steps forward and kisses him gently and then she's off to the stands with a whispered 'I love you'.

He follows her with his eyes and whispers the three words back. When this is all over, he is going to tell her.

The stands are pack with students and former students and parent. He finds Luna sitting near Hermione and Katie Bell who seems to be scanning the Slytherin side for a former Quidditch captain.

He smiles slightly and then the last round start. He and Harry split up and he destroys spiders and bows to a hippogriff. He destroys a boggart and solves a riddle, having had practice with Luna's tower.

He moves forward with the sole purpose of going back to Luna.

Then he hears a scream, a female scream, and sees red sparks.

Then he hears a growl and finds himself face to face with Krum except his eyes are glazed and Harrys gets him off him and they call for help and then it's just the two of them rushing to win.

Either way, it's Hogwarts victory. Harry saves his life as a spider also attack him as he almost touches the trophy. He and Harry argue over who should win and finally they both grab the trophy. It's a Hogwarts victory and he smiles thinking of how Luna is worrying over nothing and how everything will be okay, they touch the trophy and he feels the tugging in his skin and he realizes it a portkey.

* * *

They arrive in a cemetery and his heart begins pounding.

Back at Hogwarts, the bad feeling in Luna grows stronger and she is shaking.

He and Harry whip their wands out and they hear a voice that scares him to the core. The voice of pure evil.

Then he hears, "Kill the spare."

And he sees the green light and he thinks of Luna saying that she has a bad feeling and half a second later he is on the ground dead.

* * *

When he begs Potter to take his body back its not for his parents or for Cho, but for the girl he loves and the girl who would be the most impacted by his death.

His ghost follows Harry back and he watches the scene unfold.

* * *

Luna is shaking as the maze drags on, the feeling in her stomach that saying something is going to go wrong is strong and she feels a hand slide into her hands. She turns to look at the person and she sees its a tall dark haired Gryffindor. Ginny is on her other side and next to her is Colin and then Astoria. In front of her is Hermione and Ron and the other Weasleys. She feels like she is going to throw up and her hand is numb and she wants to close her eyes and wish for Cedric to come but she's frozen and doesn't want to miss a second.

"Please. Merlin. Please let Cedric be okay." She mutters it like a prayer.

She sees Dumbledore look worried and her heart beats faster she feels like everyone can hear it and then there is a flash and her heart drops before everone rises to thier seats. Her heart breaks.

* * *

Harry Potter is on the ground with the trophy in one hand and in the other is Cedric. She hears a scream and peope talking and she feels numb. She doesn't realize that one of the people screaming is her until someone picks her up and rocks her. She takes the calming draught that is offered and then againist everyone's wishes she sits next to his body and slips her hands through his. Mrs. Diggory hugs her as they mourn the loss of a boy they both love. Mr. Diggory holds Cho as she cries.

The four of them sit around Cedric until Dumbledore escorts her and Cho to their tower. She feels trapped and everyone is silent or whispering.

She doesn't want to believe it.

She sneaks out of her tower and crawls into Hufflepuff and everyone watches, tears on their faces as she heads to Cedric's dorm and curls up in his bed.

Scott pretends that he doesn't hear her sobs. He and his other dorm mates mourn the loss of their friend and worry over the girl their friend loved.

* * *

Cedric watches as Luna breaks down and he wants to hug her and hold her but he can't cause he's dead.

He watches as Luna sinks into herself and he worried about her.

The school year finishes and Luna locks herself in the compartment that is hers and Cedric. She stares out the window the whole time. Cedric sits there and listens to her cry.

She spends her summer in her house. The older welaey boys visit her an for a few hour she's happy but Cedric sees how thin she gets and how tired she is.

He sees her lose herself. She gets herself into dangerous situations; going out in storm climbing tall trees. She goes looking for creatures and goes deeper into the forest or muggle watching. He watches her use magic to confound the muggle bartender into giving her drink after drink and he watches her get drunk. He watches as Marcus Flint recognizes her and takes her home where he sits with her as she throws up. He doesn't think about why the former Slytherin is at a muggle bar he's just thankful the boy was there.

Marcus writes a letter to Charlie Weasley and the older boy talks to Luna.

Cedric doesn't hear what the boy says but whatever he says seems to snap Luna out of it a bit. He no longer worries that she is going to die because of something dumb but he is still scared cause she doesn't seem to care.

* * *

Luna rides the train with Harry Potter and his friends and she gets into the carriage as them. She can see on Harry's face that he sees the thestrals and she remembers Cedric. She tries not to flinch as Ron calls her Loony.

She has had years of that name. Cedric may have been her main protector but it doesn't mean the kids were nice to her. They were cruel when he wasn't around.

Cedric watched in anger as he witnesses the cruelty. He yells at the kids when they take her belongs and he wants to curse Cho when she dismisses Luna.

When Cho tries to destroy the stuffed badger Luna ends up in detention with Snape since she released a lot of magic.

She starts to carry it wherever she goes.

He watches her and Harry become friends because of thestrals and he smiles because he knows that the boy will take care of her.

When Umbridge goes after Luna he seeks out Peeves and helps him unleash hell.

He cries as Luna goes to Snape for a salve to heal her scars.

He brushes her hair back as Luna cries over the words, Cedric Diggory was not a hero, that are etched into her skin.

When she takes part in D.A. he cheers.

Luna tries to stay away from the spotlight but she feels drawn to Harry Potter, the last person to see her Cedric alive.

She considers him a friend and that makes Cedric smile and feel better as Cho and her friends treat her coldly. He can't believe that he actually liked her.

She carries her stuffed badger everywhere, a piece of Cedric with her.

The memory of her and Cedric dancing in the rain is what brings her corporal Patronus out of her wand. It's also what makes her dissolve into tears later on.

As Umbridge threatens her, she does not flinch not even as Greg Goyle hold her so tightly she can see the bruises form. She thinks of her Cedric. Brave and proud.

She doesn't hesitate to join Harry to save his uncle. She lost Cedric she would gladly help others protect their families.

She leads them all to the thestrals and she knows she has their trust when they let her guide them onto something they cannot see.

At the department of ministries, she is angry, facing off against Death Eaters, the one who took her Cedric.

Cedric wants to yell when he sees her take unnecessary risks but he can't. He can only watch in mute terror.

When Sirius Black goes through the veil, his heart sinks as he watches Harry go insane.

There is something beautiful and horrifying about insanity.

* * *

Luna spends her summer looking up spells and doing potions. There is going to be a war and Cedric will not have not died in vain and neither did Sirus or anyone else who has died or will die.

Her mother's potion labs are put to good use.

Whenever it rains she goes for a walk and talks to Cedric. Cedric walks beside her and listens to her, he wishes he could tell her that he's fine and that she needs to move on but he's not ready to leave her yet.

She studies hard for O.W.L.S. and Cedric is really proud of her. The bullying is starting to die down and she is smiling more an that make shim happy.

Trouble doesn't come for her until the end of the year when Draco Maloy terrified for his mother become a Death Eater. He watches the boy run from school and he can't help but hope the boy makes it.

The boy had a reason to fight. He has a reason to stay.

He stands guard over Luna as she sleeps in the infirmary.

* * *

That summer Bill Weasely is getting married and it hits Cedric that Luna is all grown up and she's beautiful. They have all grown up, except for him.

He watches her dance and he thinks back to their dance in the rain when she was a little girl.

It hits him that he will never dance with her again.

The wedding ends with everyone escaping as Death Eaters come.

Cedric cries with relief as Luna is spared thanks to her quick wand work and Charlie and Krum's teamwork.

She spends the rest of the summer practicing magic.

He follows her onto the train and smiles sadly as she sits with Seamus and Ginny and Colin and Colin's little brother . They will keep each other safe but Harry doesn't come back and he realizes that Luna is in great danger. The Carrows are evil and he wants to hurt them, the way they are hurting the kids.

He doesn't want to kill them, not until they torture her.

He's a ghost but he can't get her screams out of his mind. He is forced to watch them torture her by making Luna sees his dead body over and over again. They laugh and tease her and he sees everyone's pity as Luna cries over him but he watcher her every morning as she grows stronger and more determined to win, if not for herself but for him.

Every morning Luna reminds herself that Cedric was a hero and that he loves her and that she is strong and brave and that she is making him proud. It gets her through the day.

When she is taken to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor because of her father its Cedric that keeps her alive. Cedric wishes ghost can kill because if they could he would. He would kill them all for making her blood fall, for leaving bruises on her skin, for making her be brave as the world around her falls apart.

* * *

When Harry arrives at the castle she knows the war will end that day, and it scares her. The war gave her purpose after Cedric what will she do now?

She doesn't have the answer to the question.

Cedric watches as Luna fights and he has never been so proud of her.

He feels helpless as she comes close to death so many times.

He doesn't know how much time passes since he is so focused on Luna that he doesn't realize that he has company.

Fred Weasley, Tonks and Lupin, and many others join him in watching the battle play out.

He cries as Harry is announced dead and Fred grabs his arm.

They watch as the final moments of the battle and how Neville kills the snake and how Harry and Voldemort go head to head and how Harry wins.

* * *

Cedric is relieved that Luna will not be joining him.

But what happens now?

The war is over and Luna isn't sure how she feels about it.

What happens now?

Her dad is destroyed, mentally.

Her home is gone.

Cedric is dead.

She's alone.

* * *

She stays in her house making repairs and everyone takes the time to mourn.

She goes back to Hogwarts in the beginning of July to help with the repairs but she is silent. She ignores a pouting Ginny and an angry Ron and stands next to a quiet Harry and quiet Hermione.

She works with the Slytherins as no one else wants to. She has no problems with them, not even Draco Malfoy who stutters out an apology, eyes on the ground. She simply hugs him tightly and ignores the tears that end up in her hair.

They are sent to work by the Hufflepuff common room which was destroyed as the elves came running out of the kitchen and fireplaces.

She crumples to the ground in tears as she catches sight of Cedric's favorite arm chair, burned.

Blaise pats her shoulder as she cries.

Daphne Greengrass helps her dry her tears and Luna is determined to return the common room to its former glory.

She starts with the wall and ends with his chair. She makes a small gold plate with the words _Cedric Diggory's chair._

Minvera is impressed by their work but it doesn't help Luna.

Luna attends the funerals of everyone who died but after each funeral, she goes to visit Cedric. He was the first casualty of the second war and even if everyone else forgot that fact, she didn't. And she never will.

* * *

Hermione comes to visit her in the middle of July with an invitation for a birthday party for Harry and Neville.

"Neither one has had a good birthday."

Luna laughs and she shows up in a green dress. The two boys are surprised by the party and Luna admits that the smile on Harry's face and the way he hugs Hermione tightly, burying his head in her hair, made her smile although her heart jumped. Neville too hugs Hermione tightly.

She goes back to school with Hermione and Ginny.

She has friends but they will never be Cedric.

She graduates and when her name is called Harry jumps up and claps like crazy, the Weasley family joining in, as her heart fills with love.

Cedric's family is there too and his mother whispers in her ear.

"He would be so proud of you."

She hands her a letter and she recognizes the writing. All the noise around her disappears as she holds Cedric's letter in her hand.

She opens the letter by the lake, and her eyes filling with tears.

That's how her friends find her.

Hermione orders everyone away and she and Harry help her to the castle.

She looks at everyone who loves her but it doesn't help the hole in her heart so she decides to leave. She leaves a note and with portkey that Kingsley arranges for her, she is gone.

She goes everywhere she can, seeing everything. She feels at peace.

* * *

Then she meets him. Rolf Scamander, he's older and interested in creatures, they have some interesting in-depth conversations. A few weeks later, he proposes to her.

They love each other but are not in love with each other. He still travels and she travels with him. However, when she gets pregnant, she goes back to England, alone. She gets back in touch with everyone and they accept her back immediately. She has twins and Rolf comes to visit.

Everyone questions their relationship but she doesn't say a word. They are two friends who married each other because they both lost people a while back. She lost Cedric and Rolf lost his fiancee. There is love between them but it's the love of two friends.

* * *

The day that her kids go to Hogwarts she goes to visit Cedric. She and Rolf have decided to divorce and it's weird to think that her kids are there, in the place where she used to be. Where she fought a war, where Harry defeated Voldemort, where she saw Cedric's dead body.

At the end of the year, she goes to see him.

She tells Cedric about her boys, Lysander and Lorcan and how both boys are very close with Lily Potter and Lucy Weasley. She tells him about how Rose and Scorpius are best friends and how she thinks they will be getting married one day.

* * *

She visits him every year and tells him the latest news.

She tells him about Rose and Scorpius getting married, and how big simple the wedding was. She cries as she tells him Lysander and Lorcan and how they are marrying Lily Luna Potter and Lucy Olivia Weasley, in a joint ceremony. She tells him how Percy Weasley and Oliver Wood finally got married, with Percy's former wife Audrey as their bridesmaid. How Katie Bell ended up marrying Marcus Flint, with their 17-year-old daughter's permission. She tells him all about Dean and Seamus and how they finally were able to marry with the passing of the Equality marriage law. She tells him everything that comes to mind, each time she visits but she never says that she misses or loves him. Shee doesn't have to.

She visits him on his birthday and on the day he died.

Her kids don't ask her where she goes and she knows Harry knows because she had seen him visiting once or twice, usually with Hermione. In fact, everyone seems to know that she visits him often.

* * *

Her kids are married and Lorcan and Lucy are expecting a son. They tell her than they have a name picked out, and Lucy looks at her with big eyes, knowing eyes.

Nine months later she is holding little Cedric Frederick Regulus and he has dark brown hair and blue eyes and he's so beautiful.

Cedric Diggory watches with tears in his eyes and Luna holds his name sake.

He touches the baby cheek and the baby smiles up at him.

"I love you Ced."

Cedric places a kiss to Luna's temple as she rocks baby Cedric. She closes her eyes as she feels something cold press agast her temple.

* * *

Luna is 90 years old and she and her great-grandchildren love to go jumping through puddles. Her kids always warn her that she is going to get sick but she knows her time is coming and wants to spend her last moments with them.

It's a beautiful winter morning. The sun is rising and Luna is curled up on the couch, her white hair falls gently around her face and she is in an oversize Hufflepuff sweater. The snow is falling gently and Luna closes her eyes with a smile.

Cedric Regulus tries to wake up his grandmother a few hours later with no luck.

As far as dying goes, it's a perfect way to go. At home, in peace, happy.

* * *

Luna finds herself walking the corridors of Hogwarts. She enters the Hufflepuff common room and there is Cedric sitting in his favorite armchair cradling a small baby, her stillborn grandchild, Daisy.

Cedric looks up when he sees her and he smiles and she smiles and then he stands up and passes Daisy to Dobby who disappears with her and then he's kissing her.

She kisses him back.

When he pulls away she looks up tears in her eyes.

"I missed you." He touches her cheek.

"I love you."

She kisses him again and then they walk out hand in hand and are joined by Harry, Hermione, Sirius Black, Lily and James Potter, her parents, and the rest of the dead.

* * *

 **What did you guys think? Let me know!**

 **-Queen**


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